Lobster fishery violates Endangered Species Act, judge declares

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg filed a 20-page order Thursday, April 9, declaring the American lobster fishery violates the Endangered Species Act.

Click to read the full opinion.

The federal lawsuit challenged a biological opinion filed by NMFS in 2014 stating that the American lobster fishery “may adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of North Atlantic right whales.”

The judge ruled against NMFS, noting that the agency failed to include an “incidental take statement.” That failure, the judge declared, renders the biological opinion illegal under the Endangered Species Act.

The suit — filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation and several other environmental groups — is similar to the California Dungeness crab lawsuit (led by the Center for Biological Diversity) which also claimed the fishery violated the ESA. The finding there forced the crab fishery to file for an incidental take permit, a process that can take years, and negotiate with the plaintiffs on whether there will be fishing seasons in the interim and what those opening and closing parameters will be.

"If the right whale population is so dire how can the agency justify targeting only the lobster fishery?" Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, asked the panel.

"It's not within our control to force Canada to take action," replied Chris Oliver, NMFS administrator.

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association is reviewing carefully the Court’s summary judgment ruling on liability," the association, which intervened in the case in 2018, said in a statement. "The MLA expects to submit briefing to the court during the remedy phase of this proceeding to protect the rights and livelihood of the lobstermen it represents.”

The Maine Lobstermen's Association, which also intervened in 2018, released a statement on the ruling on Monday, April 13.

“Until now, the court has only heard from the environmental groups and the federal government. They have not yet heard the fishing industry’s perspective,” noted McCarron. “The MLA and its legal team are uniquely positioned and well prepared to educate the court on the Maine lobster fishery’s long-standing efforts to protect right whales and insist that decisions that affect our fishermen are based on the best available science."

Jessica Hathaway is the editor in chief of National Fisherman. She has been covering the fishing industry for 13 years, serves on the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's Communications Committee and is a National Fisheries Conservation Center board member.